iBet
by ahkullerkeks
Summary: "Dude." She swallowed hard. "That's not just the most disgusting prize you've ever wanted, but that sounds a lot like…a date."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly.**

* * *

Freddie Benson was certainly confused. It was showed by his furrowed eyebrows and the intense stare which he send to the petite blonde sitting across of him on the Shay's couch. She sat Indian Style there, eating a piece of bacon and watching intently on the TV screen. They aired reruns of _Girly Cow_, the whole nine seasons.

Carly, their best friend, fell asleep a few hours ago, leaning her head against the armrest of the couch, her mouth agape. Freddie chuckled slightly at the sight of her, his laptop trembling in his lap.

Sam shot him a curious glance. She raised an eyebrow as she saw him staring at Carly which brown hair fell softly over her face. Sam's expression changed as Freddie returned her look and she quickly recovered looking to the TV.

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Aren't you full sometime?"

"What'd you mean?" Sam asked with her mouth full of meat.

Freddie screwed up his face in slight disgust. "We're sitting here for three hours now and the whole time you've been eating. Aren't you full sometime?"

The blonde girl looked at him and cocked her eyebrows as if asking '_Really, Benson? Really?_'

Freddie couldn't help but chuckle at her look. "Okay, never mind."

"Good boy," Sam said facing the TV once again.

It grew silent in the room apart of the voices that came out of the boxes and Carly's soft snoring. Freddie found this little imperfection totally cute and felt a smile form on his lips as he glanced over to the brunette's sleeping form.

"Stop watching the poor girl, you creeper," Sam suddenly said, not looking over to Freddie. "She'll have nightmares from your staring."

"She will not," Freddie told Sam offended. "She'll never notice."

"Uh, she will if I tell her. Duh."

"She won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

"I'm not getting into this, Freddork. There's no point in arguing, Momma always wins."

Freddie frowned. Why did he feel this weird confusion rising inside his body again? He shook his head as if to let loose all the strange feelings and let his eyes slid to Sam's lap, where the empty plate rested.

"It's gone."

Freddie looked up. Sam almost had a sad expression on her face, as her eyes met the empty plate in front of her. She shoved her lower lip forward, a pout growing on her face as she ignored the TV completely.

"Well, get more." Freddie stated the obvious, the corner of his mouth twisting lightly.

Sam shot him a steely glare. "I can't, doofus. People don't have anymore."

"No need to get vicious."

"No need to get your anti-bacterial underpants in a bunch."

Freddie rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed by now. Why did Sam always have to make fun of him? She never took him serious and it was just confusing him more that she plainly refused to look at him when she did, or rather didn't.

Carly would never be so rude to him, that he knew for sure. And he also knew that this confusing feelings Sam made him feel weren't of the good kind. At least not good when it came down to Sam Puckett. They weren't that different from the feelings he thought he'd feel for Carly, but this time it seemed stronger, more urgent and, dare he say it, more _sincere_ than before. It made him feel sick and good at the same time. _Confused_.

"Why can't you be nicer?" He burst without thinking. His eyes widened in surprise. Uh-oh.

Sam cocked an eyebrow. She wore her typical bored expression, no emotion reflecting on her face. "I'm not happy with your girlyness either, but you don't hear me complain, do you, Fredface?"

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about. You don't even consider seeing me as an equal member of society!"

Outraged she opened her mouth. "How can you believe I do that, when you keep saying things _this _nubbish?"

"If you had something like _manners _you would overhear my _nubbish_ outbursts, just like Carly does!" He replied frantically knitting his eyebrows together.

A glint of…_something_ flashed through Sam's eyes before she looked genuinely annoyed. "Yeah, 'cause Carly's _always _the perfect one. Get a life, nerd."

Did Freddie hear wrong or did Sam really sound kind of jealous just a moment ago? But that could be just his weird new feelings pulling a prank on him, so he shook them off and continued returning Sam's death glare. She was scary when she did that.

"I bet you couldn't handle being like Carly to _everyone_ for a week." A victorious grin flashed across Freddie's features. He knew Sam couldn't resist a bet and he also knew that this bet would be a total win for him. Maybe his first win over Sam Puckett, _ever_.

"Excuse me?" Sam said slowly, dangerously, sensing something.

Freddie knew what was going through her head. She was in denial. She felt nauseous with the thought of being nice to _everyone _at school for a whole week, but on the other hand, she couldn't back down. Sam Puckett never rejected a bet, especially not made by him, Freddie Benson.

"You heard me." Freddie cocked his head up, trying to look bad, but failing miserably.

Sam chewed on her lower lip absentmindedly running her hand through her long, unruly curls. Freddie tried not to focus too hard on how she sucked her lip in her mouth and how she let it out with every other breath.

He forced himself to look down on his now black laptop screen and tried to calm down a little. He blamed these freshly discovered feelings to his teenage boy hormones.

"What do I get when I win?" Sam's voice snapped him back into the presence. He looked blankly at her for a moment, trying to sort out this unusual mess inside his head.

"You mean _if_ you win," he corrected.

"I know what I said." Sam smirked. "So what do I get?"

Freddie shifted in his seat, feeling uneasier by the second. "What do you want?" he asked carefully, not really sure if he _should_ be asking that.

Sam's smirked widened. "Really, Freddifer, I thought you knew better."

"I do. It just…slipped," he murmured.

"When I win, I'm going to tell your Mommy what happened last week, after you and me left to hit Groovy Smoothie after the show." A flash of evil graced her features. "She's going to love this."

Freddie's mouth opened in total shock. "You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?" She let loose of her hair and stood up, empty plate in hand. "Think hard, Benson."

She chuckled and walked over to the kitchen to place the plate on the kitchen counter and open the fridge. She bend over and Freddie lowered his gaze onto his laptop once more.

If Sam was really going to pull of this bet, he had to do everything in his power to make her lose. His mom would freak when she found out what happened at Groovy Smoothie. _No one_ knew. Not even Carly and that meant something. Well, not _no one_, since Sam knew, obviously. But that was it.

Freddie had been surprised by Sam's promise not to tell anyone in the first place, and that had been the time when he first started having this weird, disgusting feeling assaulting his insides.

"Why is here no food?" Sam called out of the kitchen.

Carly swiftly shrugged in her sleep, but this time Freddie didn't really care how cute she looked when she did so.

"My bag-pack's lying on the counter. Look in the front pocket, there's some Low-Fat fatcakes," Freddie answered automatically. "I thought you might get hungry again."

Sam straightened her back, as she looked over her shoulder to gaze at Freddie. She had a weird look upon her face, but he could barely see it for the light was very dim in the living room.

Sam closed the fridge and walked towards the counter, grabbing Freddie's bag and ripping the front pocket open. She fetched out some of the marshmallow flavored cakes and took her seat next to Carly on the couch again. The brunette girl snuggled a little deeper into the pillows, knitting her eyebrows together in her sleep.

"Okay, Benson, just to be fair here," Sam announced. "What do you want, if you win?"

Her face didn't show any emotion, just a flash of delight when she opened the package of the fatcake.

Freddie frowned. What _did_ he want, if he won this bet? Could he even think of this as an opportunity to humiliate Sam Puckett? What would be bad enough to give her a hard time? Then he remembered this thing that he talked about in school earlier.

A grin spread over his lips as he looked at Sam gleefully. "Remember what I told you guys about in between Chemistry and English?"

Sam chewed slowly on her fatcake, looking kind of lunatic with the way she held it close to her chest. She shook her head. "No."

"About the cinema?"

"No."

"Sam, did you even listen to me at all?" He frowned again, this time frustration taking over his voice.

The petite blonde smirked. "No."

He rolled his eyes and reminded her. "Next Saturday there's going to be this Galaxy Wars marathon. They show the whole series, all six parts, the whole night long. If I win this bet, you have to come with me."

Sam stopped chewing for a second. And if Sam Puckett stopped chewing she must be really been caught off guard. "Dude." She swallowed hard. "That's not just the most disgusting prize you've ever wanted, but that sounds a lot like…a date."

"What? No. God, _no_." Freddie shook his head in disbelief. It didn't sound like a date at all, what was that demon thinking? "I'm just trying to make your loss the worst you've ever discovered."

"Congratulations," Sam's voice was dripping of mock humor. "It would be, but I don't lose. After all, Momma plays to win, Fredwardo. I'm not going on a date with you in, like, ever."

A pang of…something mixed itself into the weird and overly aggressive feelings in Freddie's stomach. If he thought he felt nauseous after watching Sam eat that bacon, he felt even worse now, after hearing her voice say totally typical Puckett words.

"So, it's a deal. Starting tomorrow," he managed to press before letting himself sink into the armchair he was sitting in even more.

Sam glared at him before biting a piece off of her fatcake. "You're so on."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hola. Thank you all for the nice reviews. I didn't think I'd get some in the first place, since my English is still in improvement-mode, since I'm from Germany. xD Just so you know, if you find some mistakes in here. And again, thanks for the reviews and forgive me if this chapter is a little cheesy. :D Have fun reading!**

**Disclaimer: iCarly belongs to Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon.  
**

* * *

The next morning Freddie Benson woke up by the smell of freshly fried bacon. He didn't want to open his eyes in the first place, but he wondered where the bacon came from. Last night Sam said the Shay household didn't have any more bacon.

He opened his eyes after all and massaged his stiff neck with the hand that didn't have a hold on the laptop that lay in his lap. Weird he held it the whole night in the same place.

Carefully placing his computer onto the couch table, he stood up and stretched his aching limbs. Now he understood why his mom always told him not to sleep on chairs.

Freddie looked over to the kitchen where he saw Carly's older brother staying in front of the stove with a duck apron on. He seemed to hum something since there was a quiet buzzing sound to be heard.

Freddie chuckled.

Both, Carly and Sam, were already up. He was only slightly surprised to see Sam awake. He figured she wouldn't sleep that much after the bet they made the night before. It was always like that with their bets.

He walked over and picked a grape out of the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter.

"Morning," he greeted.

"Good morning, Freddie," Carly said, a sleepy smile grazing her features.

Spencer turned around, smiling goofily. "May the force be with you, fellow Galaxy Wars lover!"

"You excited for the marathon?" Freddie chuckled.

"Shoosh yeah! I've been waiting for it over half a year!"

Freddie glanced over to Sam who bit on her lower lip as she tried to hold back a comeback to Spencer's geeky statement.

He sat down on the kitchen table next to her, a grin forming on his lips as she glared at him. "Good morning, Sam."

"Eh," she retorted.

This would be so much fun, Freddie thought. "Did you sleep well?"

Her blue eyes bore into his and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This strange feeling came back again.

"No, I did not sleep well," she informed him with tensed jaw muscles. "I had nightmares, but thank you for your demand."

"Uh, nightmares," Carly chimed in, a little _too_ enthusiastically. "What were they about?"

"About proton cruisers and hand lasers and geeks who tried to _kill _me with their little nub-nub plush toys and laser swords." Her steely gaze didn't leave Freddie's face.

The blonde girl clenched her teeth. "Sorry, if I offended you, Freddie, but I can't help for the dreams I'm having."

Freddie had to confess, he was pretty impressed by Sam's self-control. He'd expected her to explode by now, especially after what Spencer said.

"What's this weird tension between your sidekicks about, Carl's?" Spencer set some plates full of fried eggs and bacon on the table for everyone to eat and sat down himself, taking a sip of his milk.

Carly rolled her eyes. "I don't know, but I'm sure it has something to do with a bet. Why else would Sam say nothing to you Galaxy Wars love?"

"Uh, what bet is it?"

Freddie waited for Sam to answer, but when she continued to chew her meat with a deadly glare, he sighed. "Sam has to be nice to everyone for a week or else she has to go to the Galaxy Wars marathon with me."

"Oh, my god!" Carly looked genuinely shocked at her best friend. "How could you say yes to that? What if you lose?"

"Momma never loses."

"She will this time," Freddie retorted.

"Oh yeah? Well, you should-" Sam broke off. She had a almost tormented look on her face and Freddie felt a little pang of guilt. She seemed to gather herself. "It's a fair game, Freddie. May the one with the most self-control win."

Freddie frowned. "I don't need any self-control for this."

Sam cracked a mysterious smile. "Don't you?"

"Okay!" Spencer interrupted their little conversation with a strange look on this face. "You kids are confusing me, so please stop talking in riddles. What goes on today, kiddos?"

"Not much," Carly said, smiling thankfully to her older brother. "Griffin's coming over later to hang out a little."

Spencer screwed up his face. "And you two?"

Freddie and Sam shrugged simultaneously. Freddie couldn't help but chuckle a little and noticed how Sam smirked into her own glass of milk.

"Oh, okay. Too much information, kiddos." Spencer giggled. "Well, if you must know, what I'm up to today-"

Carly rolled her eyes and Freddie laughed lightly as Sam pressed her lips together.

"No one asked, Spence," Freddie snickered; his stomach relaxing by the kind of proud look Sam shot his way.

Spencer looked somewhat offended but quickly changed his mood. "Anyways, I am going on a date with Socko and-"

"Spencer! You never told me you're going this way now!" Carly interrupted in a high voice. "I know you don't have much luck with girls, but that doesn't mean, you have to switch-"

"Would you stop interrupting me?" Spencer pouted. "I was going to say, I'm going on a _double_-date with Socko and this two girls we met at the junk yard. So you don't have to wait for me tonight, okay?"

"This date takes the whole night?"

Freddie rolled his eyes at Carly's remark. Sometimes she could be so dull. "Carly, would you just leave it to this?"

"Thanks, Freddie-o." Spencer patted the technical producer on the shoulder. "I'm going to get some doughnuts, you guys want some?"

Carly frowned. "We just had breakfast, Spencer."

"So?" He stood up, shrugging his shoulders. "There's always some place for doughnuts."

"I want some," Sam piped up.

Freddie watched her standing up and going over to the couch. She didn't say much during breakfast and he was just slightly worried. Sure, she wouldn't be talking much after she wasn't allowed to be her normal self, but not talking at all?

"Behave, kiddos!" With that last exclamation, Spencer ran out the apartment, jacket and purse in hand.

Carly giggled and picked up plates and forks. Freddie got up, too.

"You need help, Carly?"

"No, I got this. Thanks." She shot a smile his ways and went to the washer's machine to put in the dishes. It wasn't really much, so Freddie went to the couch, sitting next to Sam whose eyes were glued on the TV.

"What's on?"

"_Celebrities Underwater_," She replied. "Man, I wonder how many stars died already in this stupid show."

Freddie chuckled, noticing how Sam's unruly curls fell down her shoulders, tickling his skin where the sleeve of his shirt ended. Did he sit this close to her?

"Guys? I'm taking a shower. You two behave, okay?" Carly was heard from somewhere behind them.

"Yeah, mommy," Sam answered, a bored expression on her face.

Freddie looked over the back of the couch to see their brunette friend running upstairs. "She's after Griffin again?"

"Yeah, since she realized it's not that bad to collect pee wee babies, she wants him again." Sam turned on another channel where they showed some new band. "I'd be weirded out by a bad boy who collects fuzzy dollies."

"So you say you'd reject Griffin if he was after you?" Freddie looked at her incredulous.

"Who knows?"

Freddie eyed Sam suspiciously. Her gaze wasn't planted on the TV anymore but at her hands with the remote in them. Her feet rested on the couch table, still her demolished converse on. She wore a dark ripped jeans and a black _Led Zeppelin_ Shirt and looked like the complete opposite of Carly who was always dolled up. Still it was Sam who took Carly's place in his mind.

Quickly Freddie shook these thoughts off, tearing his gaze off of Sam and planting it onto the TV screen. He must've gone crazy to even muster the confidence to look at the blonde devil this look.

"Would you reject me?" he asked without thinking.

He watched Sam wide eyed as she slowly turned her head to him, her look careful and curious. Maybe, if he did it carefully, he could show her that he wanted to tick her off, so she would lose the bet.

"You?" She repeated.

"Me."

"That's the stupidest question you ever asked." Her facial expression didn't change.

Freddie gathered himself together. His voice was just slightly trembling as he said, "That's not a nice thing to say."

Sam furrowed her eyebrows. "Freddie, really, it's bad enough for me not to mock Spencer for what he said earlier, but this? Let's keep this bet fair, won't we?"

"You're about to lose, if you keep this going, Sam," Freddie replied plainly.

Sam took a deep breath before looking him straight in the eye. "You know why I haven't been sleeping well this night?"

Freddie was surprised by the serious expression in her face and earnest tone in her voice. She wasn't acting like herself at all. Actually she wasn't acting like herself the whole morning and Freddie started having mixed feelings towards this bet.

"Why?" he croaked.

"Because I was thinking about why you would want to change me so badly."

"I don't want to change you."

"Yeah, you do," she looked determined. "With this bet you want me to be someone I'm not. You already have a Carly in your life, do you need another one?"

"What? Another Carly?"

"Ugh, forget it. After this bet, I'm done with you."

Freddie was sincerely shocked. Why would she think he wanted to change her? Why would she cancel their friendship?

"You're cancelling our friendship because of a stupid bet?"

She turned to him again, this time sitting crosswise on the couch, her whole body turning to him. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he saw the upset look in her blue eyes. It was weird to see her like that and he didn't understand what he did wrong.

"Even though this bet comes from you, it's not stupid. This is serious chizz, Benson. Look at the facts, you want me to act like Carly, don't you?"

"Sam, this is just a bet. We're always having these. It's just to tick you off, this is how we work."

A smirk appeared on the blonde's face. "We don't work at all, Benson. We're pretty whacked."

As strange this conversation was for Freddie, he had to confess to himself that he like the way she said '_we_'. It sounded like something serious and not like the odd relationship they had. After all they made the confession that they are friend after all.

"But that's just how we-"

"Drop it, Benson," Sam interrupted, before turning to the TV again. "After all, I would reject you kindly if you were after me. At least as long as we have this bet rolling."

Freddie was certainly confused. As much as he knew about girls and how complex they were, Sam Puckett would always be the most complex girl he'd ever know.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly.  
**

* * *

"That's weird."

Carly looked up, watching Freddie with a quizzical expression on her face. "What's weird?"

"I put my USB cord right here between my laptop and my camera, but I still can't find it. Have you guys seen it somewhere?" The technical producer shot a questioningly look to the girls sitting in the colorful beanbags playing a card game that Freddie didn't know the rules of.

"Didn't you leave it somewhere on the cart after the show yesterday?" Carly stopped distributing the cards for a second to look the tech cart up and down from the distance.

"Yeah, that's what I just said, Carly," Freddie snapped.

"No need to get mean, Mr Saucy-Pants." Carly pouted, drawing her attention back to the game.

Freddie rolled his eyes then let them fall onto the blonde girl in the yellow beanbag. With one hand she held a bottle of Peppy Cola, with the other she drew little circles on the wooden ground, not lifting her eyes off the cards.

"Sam?" Freddie pressed on. "Do _you_ know where my USB cord is?"

Sam puckered her lips, still not lifting her gaze off the ground. Freddie couldn't help but feel a smile tuck on the corner of his lips as she looked up to him through her blonde bangs.

Carly furrowed her eyebrows. "Sam? Do you have something to do with the disappearance of Freddie's tech-thingy?"

Sam's eyes darted back and forth between Carly and Freddie, heaving a deep sigh. "Maybe, I do have a little something to do with your USB cord. But that was before our bet, so don't you dare call it a loose."

"I won't." Freddie rolled his eyes. "Where is it?"

"In the car," Sam said. Her gaze followed Freddie through the room as he walked over to the car to look for his cord. "Not my best hiding place, but I was in a hurry."

Freddie leaned against the doorframe of the car, stretching to peek under the steering wheel, where he found his USB cord. After he put it on the tech cart, he let himself plop on another beanbag between Carly and Sam.

"So, when's Griffin coming over?" he asked, grabbing Sam's Peppy Cola and taking a sip. She glared at him, but he just cocked a challenging eyebrow.

Carly gathered the playing cards together, arranging them in a tidy folder. "He texted me saying he's on his way. He's coming right upstairs. You guys want to hang out with us a little?"

"Sure, I don't have any other place to go," Sam said, sinking deeper into her beanbag.

Freddie frowned at her even though she wouldn't be able to see him do so through closed eyelids. Something about her seemed uneasy and he remembered what she had said earlier this morning. He was sure, he needed to talk to her about that, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't do anything wrong, right?

"Cool." Carly rose from her seat. "I'm going down, getting some snacks. If Griffin comes here while I'm away, just tell him I'll be right back."

"Yeah, yeah," Sam mumbled.

"Sure thing," Freddie said at the same time, feeling slightly uncomfortable as Sam peeked at him with nearly closed eyes.

He heard the studio door close shut as Carly marched downstairs humming the same song Spencer sang this morning. Again, it sounded like the buzzing of bees or wasps.

Freddie pressed his lips together. "Hey. Sam?"

The blonde girl groaned quietly before staring back at Freddie whose cheeks started to feel hot. She should know better than making this kind of sounds around a teenage boy in the age of seventeen. His hormones where in this time, like his mother once said, all out of whack.

"Can I help you, Freddie?" She tensed her jaw muscles again.

Freddie could comprehend how hard it would be for her to not call him names. She rarely called him Freddie at all and now she was supposed to always call him by his real name for a whole week. No five bugs could be paid to forgive one insult like a few years ago.

"I guess you can," Freddie answered awkwardly. He didn't know what to say, he was just hoping to see something flicker in her eyes that reminded her of the old Sam. The Sam that didn't thought all too much about their bets and came to the conclusion that he wanted to change her by daring her to be like Carly.

_Or could it be_, he heard a voice inside his head whisper_, that she's actually right?_

"Well?" Sam cocked an eyebrow, seemingly trying her best to keep her patience. "What can I do for you?"

Freddie's mind was racing for things to say. He wasn't feeling good with the thought of an upset Sam on his mind. Certainly not when there was a possibility that _he_ was the reason for her, dare he call it, disorder.

Instead of saying the things he came up with to provoke her, like _Would you go out with me?_ or _Pitch control helps you to find the perfect skating position_, he just looked at her dumbfounded, opening and closing his mouth over and over again, watching as her eyes narrowed more and more.

"Excuse me?" she forced out. "I-I'm sorry, I couldn't understand you."

Freddie's held his breath. Sam Puckett stuttered. She stuttered in front of _him_. He never heard her stutter before, but he didn't like the feeling of her stutter. He always thought, if he might witness this day, it would feel great like a premiere usually does. But it didn't.

He shook his head, less as an answer for Sam's question than an attempt to stop his mind from thinking the things he did. Slowly he rose from his beanbag, feeling Sam's gaze on him the whole way up. He didn't look at her as he mumbled an excuse and hurried out the room.

* * *

It wasn't easy for a teenage boy to suddenly realize there's more to the aggressive and abrasive best friend than just her vicious behavior. And it was even harder to understand what this boy did subconsciously: trying to change this girl he found himself fond of to make sense out of his admiration for her.

Maybe Sam had been right about what she thought of this bet. Freddie had been thinking the whole night about that, not being able to sleep with thoughts this disturbing.

He shouldn't be having _Sam_ on his mind instead of Carly. Carly's always been there before, why change it now? Why couldn't he just feel the stupid pang of jealousy when she was talking about Griffin, his a_bs_ or whatever it was girls liked about him, like in the old times?

With this bet he forced Sam to act like Carly, the girl Freddie always thought he was totally in love with. So, if she did act like a nice girl, he could understand why it was that he seemed to think of the blonde demon way too often.

Freddie closed his locker shut while rubbing his tired eyes. He hated it to be tired in school; it made his whole day worse than ever. Not that his school days were always _that _miserable, but, well, you couldn't change the fact that it was indeed _school_.

He glanced over to the lockers of his best friends just to see Sam standing by hers with a guy in front of her, _way_ to close. He leaned one arm against the locker between Sam and Carly's and leaned down a little to talk more privately as it seemed.

The technical producer knitted his eyebrows together walking quietly closer to the pair of teens.

The boy had blonde hair falling over his face, but sadly they didn't hide his bright green eyes. He looked kind of criminal with his black leather jacket and black boots.

Freddie was still far enough to not make the boy suspicious but he was close enough to hear them talk.

"Come on, Sam." The boy had a disturbingly deep voice. "What's bothering you? You've been like this the whole morning? What should I beat up?"

Freddie screwed up his face. _Beat up_?

"I told you," Sam sounded occupied and not too keen with the conversation. "Nothing's bothering me. No need to worry, really."

"See? That's what I'm mean. You sound kind of polite and you haven't made any remark about Mrs Wilder's ugly dress."

Freddie could see Sam's muscles tense again, even if her back was turned to him.

"If she likes it." She slammed her locker shut and leaned against it, resting the side of her head on the cold metal. By the way she slouched her shoulders; Freddie could tell she was exhausted.

"Okay, I'm so going to beat someone up." The blonde guy touched Sam's arm lightly and Freddie had to force himself to look away. Something inside him narrowed itself into a firm knot. "Who is it?"

"Ty," Sam's voice cracked somehow. "Please, leave me alone."

"Right after you tell me, why you just said 'please'. Why don't you kick me so I leave you alone?" He stared down at her. "Is it this guy again? The one who does the web show with you?"

Freddie's body froze. His heart began racing for a, for him, unknown reason. He knew it would be hard for Sam to deal with this bet, but he never thought she'd even be nice when he wasn't around. His stomach turned and twisted.

And the fact that this delinquent guy knew about him, didn't make him feel better.

Wait. _Is it this guy _again_?_ What did that mean?

"Please leave," Sam begged and Freddie turned his head to look her way.

He saw her shooting him a sideways glance, noticing his presence pretty obviously. He put his hand into his jeans pockets and gave her a half-heartedly half-smile.

The boy, _Ty_, glared at him for a minute then looked down at Sam again, his expression changing the second his eyes left Freddie's face. "Fine. Text me later?"

"We'll see," Sam answered not returning his look. She didn't even watch him leave; instead her eyes followed Freddie while he walked to her, taking Ty's previous spot. Something in her eyes changed, but Freddie couldn't quite get what it was.

"Hey," he greeted after the silence got to a point of unbearable awkwardness.

"Hello, Freddie," Sam replied, cocking an eyebrow. "How are you?"

Freddie frowned. "Good. So…who…who was that guy? I mean, I've never seen him before, so…"

She nodded as if understanding his weird mumbles, her curls bouncing up and down as she did. "He's Ty, a guy I know from detention."

"And…and he's in our grade?"

"No, he's a senior."

"Oh." Freddie looked down at his shoes. He began to feel uncomfortable being around a nice Sam. She didn't say one word about his hair or his shirt. He made sure his shirt looked dork gold. "So, you two are-" he had to be smooth now "-like…an item?"

Sam's face went blank and she closed her eyes, clenching her teeth visibly together. "No," she pressed, "We're not and _please _don't ever use this…_word_ in combination with me ever again."

"I forgot you hate it for a second," Freddie apologized quietly. He frowned. Sam should already say something about him that weren't nice. He loathed this bet. "You know, I thought I'd ask Tara Goldman out."

He watched Sam's cheeks getting pale.

"Oh, and I wanted to fight against this bold guy that pelts everyone in the cafeteria with fish sticks. What do you think? It's an easy win for me, right?" He hated how desperate he sounded as he said all this. "Come on, I need your advice. Should I enter a _Mr Summer _contest? I always wanted to be in one of these calendars'."

He furrowed her eyebrows together, a wave forming on her forehead, showing him her great aversion for his unfair and admittedly weak attempts to win the bet. He just couldn't stand the way she didn't tease him, it made his mind race in the complete opposite direction it was supposed to.

"Please, Sam." He closed his eyes in hopeless petition. "Tell me what to do."

Sam didn't answer right away, so Freddie dared to peek through slightly open eyelids. Her mouth hang a little open and she looked seriously taken aback by his choice of words and tone of voice.

"Sam?" Freddie moved closer, his fingertips itching to connect with her soft looking skin. He could remember the kiss too well. Her lips _were_ as soft as they looked.

He felt his heart skip a beat as her gaze followed him, looking up, not breaking the contact their eyes made. She wasn't that far away anymore; he could touch her without trouble. His hand twitched helplessly beside his body, so he stuffed them in his pockets. But there was still something that kept him from his incorrect desires. His body itched but he was in control of it.

Warm air tickled his neck as Sam let out a quiet breath. "What are you up to, Freddork?" she breathed.

His mind went blank and without really knowing what he did, he bent down, cupped her face with his already trembling hands, melding their lips together. It happened too fast for Freddie to prevent himself from doing it, he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm feeling of blood that he felt rushing in Sam's cheeks.

Something inside him exploded and left a soft electrifying feeling all over his skin and his heart. He felt Sam softening in his kiss and pulled her closer. His heart skipped a beat as he felt her smile against his lips.

And then her body tensed. She retreated, pushing him off her, a deadly shocked expression on her face. She looked as if she wanted to puke and Freddie's mind clicked.

What did he just _do_?

He shook his weird feelings off, trying to grab Sam's arm to apologize and reassure her that all this didn't mean anything to him, so she wouldn't kill him, but she took a step back, still staring at him as if he just slapped her.

"Sam, I really-"

"Your face would look great in a calendar, Freddie," she said, her voice cracking at the end.

She nodded a last time, avoiding Freddie's guilty eyes, and left, hurrying down the already empty hallway. Freddie realized a little later that she didn't go in the direction of her next class, but to the entrance of the school building.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dan Schneider's awesome characters.**

* * *

When it comes to the weather, Seattle never disappoints. Freddie had to wait for the bus in the pouring rain. Carly would've been home already since she didn't have any club meeting after school this afternoon. Freddie was restless all through AV meeting; his mind kept racing back and forth, his thoughts every time revolving around the usually fiery blonde. He was still shocked about him _attacking _her in school.

As he reached the Bushwell Plaza, he already was soaking wet, but was too distracted getting to Carly and hoping Sam wouldn't be there, what was unlikely but still believable. He wasn't going to go home first, if his mom saw him like that, she'd spray him with Anti-_whatever_ spray.

"Carly!" Freddie burst into the Shay's apartment, knowing the door was always unlocked for there are always some teenagers that pick the lock or even destroy it with their bare hands.

The brunette girl stood behind the counter with the computer on it, pouring some iced tea in a colorful plastic glass. She looked up as she heard the door being pushed open. "Hey Freddie," she greeted smiling.

Freddie threw his blue bag-pack on the couch and joined Carly at the counter. He had a rushed expression on his face as he gazed over the whole apartment, searching for a certain blonde she-demon. "Is Sam here?"

"No, she's coming over later. Why?" Carly took a sip of her iced tea, a dreamy look planting itself on her face.

"_Because_…" Freddie interrupted himself and furrowed his eyebrows at his best friend who didn't seem to listen to him at all, too lost in the divine taste of her drink. "Carly!" He snatched the glass out of her grasp. She let out a miserable _'Aw'_ and pouted slightly.

"Unnecessary," she stated.

"Carly! Focus!" Freddie snapped his fingers in front of her face, bringing her attention back to his face. "We have a situation."

"What kind of situation?" She asked placing the ice tea bottle on the kitchen island. Then she turned back to Freddie eyeing him suspiciously.

"The bad kind!"

Carly was alarmed. "Oh my god, what happened?"

"The bet," Freddie cried, "Sam and my bet is getting out of control, we have to stop it!"

Carly's face went blank. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Did I ever kid about a bet?"

"Okay, first: this is not a situation and second: You guys have this bet rolling since Saturday, that's just two days. You dared her and now you want to give up?"

"You don't understand," Freddie replied eagerly. "This bet is driving me _insane_! If you don't call it quits, Sam's going to kill me and you find my dead corpse somewhere swimming in the Seattle River! Do you want that, Carly? Do you really want to see your guy best friend all dead?"

Carly put a reassuring hand on Freddie's arm to calm him down. A teasing smile tucked in the corner of her lips. "Freddie, relax. Explain to me, how Sam can kill you, when she's being really nice to you? I watched her all day today and she did a really great job. And, by the way, corpse's are always dead," she added as an afterthought.

Freddie drew his arm away and flicked Carly's nose. "Don't go that way, Shay, I'm not letting myself get distracted. You need to tell Sam to stop being so nice, I can't take it anymore, I feel like I'm losing my mind."

"So, you're saying you miss the constant abuse, the physical _and_ emotional pain, the bickering, the fights and all that?" Carly looked incredulous.

Freddie seemed to think a second then returned the brunette's gaze with a _'duh'_-expression on his face. "Yeah!"

"This is so weird," she stated, walking past Freddie and plopping down on the couch. "Why can't I have normal friends?"

Freddie rolled his eyes. "This is serious, Carly. Please, stop this stupid bet."

"It's not stupid. Sam told me what she thinks about this bet and I kind of agree with her, Freddie. You keep on comparing her to me and it's really annoying and I can't take it anymore. You know, it's weird you don't see why Sam is actually doing such a great job with this bet. And then I always wondered why boys are so stupid and oblivious."

The tech producer frowned, trying to follow Carly's train of thought. He lost it right after the said, she'd agree with Sam. The image of the blonde bully reappeared in his mind and his stomach started doing cartwheels. He felt guilty when he thought how he tried to change her personality, even if it were just for a week. It just felt wrong when Sam acted like she did the past two days and it felt even wrong-er when she was talking to this stupid delinquent, Ty was his name.

"Earth to Freddie," he felt someone tugging on his sleeve and looked down. "You alright?"

"Yeah…yeah." Freddie sat next to Carly who leaned a little to him, a concerned look on her face. "I do feel weird."

Carly eyed Freddie a little while, not saying a word, just sitting next to his slouched form and thinking hard. "Freddie?" she finally asked.

"Yes?" He didn't lift his gaze.

"Freddie, I have a question."

Now he looked her in the eye with mixed feelings. "Shoot."

Carly watched him running a hand through his brown hair and waited until he blankly stared at the kitchen table again. "Freddie, why did you kiss Sam?"

Freddie's insides turned upside down and he felt nauseous, just like that. He never felt this bad in only a second. His heart was racing rabidly and he returned Carly's gaze carefully. "What do you mean?"

"The kiss you and Sam shared today in the hallway?" She asked incredulous.

"You," Freddie swallowed hard, "you saw?"

"Well, what do you think?" Carly said in a mocking voice. "It wasn't that hard to see you two kissing in the _hallway_ of a _public_ high school! Better ask _who didn't see_."

Freddie felt bad and embarrassed. Not embarrassed for kissing Sam, but embarrassed for doing it in front of everyone. He didn't think of the many students around them and just saw Sam and her blonde, unruly hair and her blue eyes and the mockery in them as she said '_What are you up to, Freddork?_'

Just then he realized that she officially broke their bet by saying that, but the weird thing was…he didn't feel like kissing her when she was totally nice and polite and nauseous. But when she turned to her old self, just for a moment, a _second_, he couldn't stop himself from kissing her in front of everyone, probably embarrassing her more than ever.

_Whoa, wait! _He never cared if his personal demon was embarrassed or humiliated before. What was wrong with him and these new feelings of his?

"Freddie," Carly interrupted his thoughts yet again, "Why did you do that?"

Freddie was searching his mind frantically for an answer, but before he could find one, the front door burst open once again and Sam came in, wearing a simple grey shirt and a ripped jeans with her demolished converse. This time Freddie felt a strange flutter in his belly and tried to calm his trembling hands.

"'Sup, Carls," she greeted, but stopped dead in her tracks as her gaze fell upon Freddie. Her face went pale. "And hello there, Freddie."

"Sam," he replied frowning. He stood up and walked to the computer on the counter to check the iCarly homepage.

It was silent for a little while. Carly looked uncomfortably down at her hands and Sam just stood there, where she stopped, a kind of torn look on her face. Suddenly Carly rose from her seat and ran a hand through her brown hair. "Okay, guys," she said, "This is awkward, so I'm going to go upstairs, texting with Griffin, so I don't have to think about my two best friends, who constantly pick on each other, kissing. So, settle that, okay?"

With that the web star rushed up the stairs, not taking another look on Sam or Freddie.

Sam plopped down on the couch and supported her feet on the couch table, sinking deep into the pillows. She didn't even turn on the TV, just stared at the black screen, tapping her fingers to a rhythmitical beat in her head.

Freddie caught a glimpse of her slim body against the couch pillows and couldn't help feeling a smile forming on his lips. He turned around on the red plastic chair, eyeing the pretty blonde who seemed to miss something. Usually she would, dare he think it, glow or something.

"Isn't it tiring?" he asked completely out of the blue.

Sam eyes landed on him lazily. She cocked an eyebrow. "I'm living."

"That wasn't my question, Sam." He joined Sam on the couch, maybe _a little_ closer than he intended to.

"Yes, I heard that," she pressed.

Her shoulders tensed as he lay his hand next to hers, feeling the heat of her skin against his. The second time this day Freddie felt the strange longing to touch her, even _kiss_ her again, but felt kind of…restricted like earlier in school.

She laid her eyes upon him, looking him up and down. A little of her usual self shone through her mask as a small smirk appeared on her lips. "You're wet."

Freddie looked down in his shirt and tried to de-stick the damp fabric off his skin. "Yeah, a little," he said returning her impenetrable and intense gaze. "So," he felt awkward and fluttery again, "Feel the need to talk about the thing?"

"What…thing are you talking about, Freddie?" Sam lowered her gaze to their almost touching hands.

"You know," Freddie made a weird face. It wasn't so easy to talk about a little kiss. "The thing…between us…"

"Whoa, wait," she interrupted, lifting her eyes up to meet Freddie's. It seemed like her cheeks were turning the slightest shade of pink, but Freddie doubted it by the deep frown she gave him along. "A thing? Between us? Freddie…I-I'm sorry, but there is no…_thing_…between us."

Freddie felt himself blush and avoided Sam's eyes as good as he could. He withdrew his hand from its previous place next to hers and placed it awkwardly on his knee. "I was talking about the kiss, Sam," he murmured sheepishly.

Sam let out a small "Oh" and turned to the TV screen once again. "No, thanks. I'd rather…watch TV."

It went silent for a few seconds. Freddie cocked an eyebrow, watching Sam biting on her lower lip with an uneasy expression on her face. "Well," he said after a little while, "maybe, you want to turn it on, then."

Her jaw muscles tensed as she shot Freddie a weird look that could be supposed to be a smile by the way her lips twitched. "Thank you for the _awesome_ advice, Fredward. I'd be so lost without your wisdom." She grabbed the TV remote and was about to turn on the screen when Freddie ripped it out of her grip and held it far away from her.

"What is it, Freddie?" Her breathing became heavy and she spoke through gritted teeth. Freddie was impressed by her self-control, but this wasn't what he wanted her to do.

"How long will you keep this going, Sam?"

Sam withdrew the arm that was about to reach for the remote as he said that and looked at him incredulous. "What do you mean, how long will I keep this going? The bet ends on Saturday."

"I know that!" Freddie cried, rising from his place next to Sam, throwing the remote onto the soft pillows on the couch. "I know how much this tortures you, why don't you just stop?"

Something in Sam's eyes flickered, but Freddie couldn't put a finger on what it was. "I won't lose this bet, Freddie."

"Well, neither do I!"

"We can't both win, you know." Her voice was calm which Freddie found _extremely _inappropriate when he was totally outraged for no real reason. All he felt were these stupid things in his stomach and the heat flushing in his face.

"Of _course_ I know that!" He flicked Sam's nose like he did Carly's earlier, but it was something different with the blonde girl. Usually she would've punched him after that, but now all she did was folding her quivering arms across her chest. "You just need to stop! Every normal kid would do what was best for them and not _kill_ themselves with something they're not able to do!"

"I _am _able to do this!" She replied, a frown taking over her smooth features. "I'm being nice to you since two _very_ long days and all you do is complaining about it. What do you want, Freddie?"

"I want you to give up already!"

He breathed heavily as he glared into Sam's blue eyes, her tensed shoulders almost trembling as she tried to hold herself back from doing something she would've done if Freddie hadn't dared her to be nice for a week. Something inside him flipped over after he realized that he didn't change her at all, just kept her from doing what she really wanted.

"You're acting weird," she pressed, preventing herself from adding anything to these words. "Why are you acting so weird?"

"Because," Freddie ran a hand through his hair, desperately trying to understand everything he felt when he were with Sam, or even just _thought_ of her, especially when she were with this _idiot_ of a bad boy! "I can't take it anymore! I always thought I would be grateful when you were nice to me, even if just for one moment in my life, but now? You're nice the whole time and have this tormented look on your face and this stupid guy by your locker and…and this stupid restraint and it's driving me _insane_!"

Sam looked taken aback by his sudden outburst and kind of confession of him being _kind of_ jealous of Ty and saying all the things he did. She opened her mouth, but closed it right afterwards, looking like a stupidly cute fish. "S-So," she closed her eyes, seemingly trying to collect her thoughts, "You're saying?"

"You need to stop," Freddie huffed, relaxing a little. He took a step towards Sam, thinking she would move away, but she didn't. She stood there, frozen, looking up to him with an unreadable expression on her face. "Really, I thought I wanted this, but I'm going nuts. You _have_ to stop."

Sam didn't say anything at first, just staring in the brown eyes of the tech producer. Without changing the look on her face, she finally asked, "Freddie, why did you kiss me today?"

"Why?" Freddie repeated dumbfounded, a blush creeping up his face. " I-I'm not sure…m-my mind went sort of blank…like…like when you found out there's bacon-flavored ice cream."

A small smile tucked on the corner of her lips and Freddie longed once again to touch her. "You do realize, you did that after I kind of, you know, _paused_ our bet?"

He felt his heart skip a beat as she stepped closer to him, their chests almost touching. Yes, he did realize he lost his mind after she was back to her old self, even if it was just for a second. But…that didn't mean anything, did it?

Freddie was at a loss for words and as Sam laid her hands on around his shirt collar, tugging him down to her, they heard steps rushing down the stairs. Quickly the blonde girl pushed Freddie off her and as he stumbled backwards, the other female in this house reached the living room, looking concerned and fearful at the same.

Her gaze floated over the room, checking for broken furniture or hurt friends or blood. She furrowed her eyebrows together. "Are you two alright? I heard you argue and then everything went silent. I thought one of you got killed or something, but…" She took the last few steps slowly, narrowing her eyes suspiciously, "but you seem strangely awkward. Everything okay here?"

Freddie's eyes were still fixated on Sam. What was she about to do, before they were so rudely interrupted? Did she really…? Was she trying to…?

"No harm here, Carls," Sam reassured the slightly neurotic brunette girl, shooting her a weak smile. "And we didn't argue. Freddie just had some issues we had to discuss."

Carly's features changed from suspicious to concerned again as she eyed her best friend. "You're sure, you're alright, Sam? Something with your head? Did this bet hit your brain, or something?"

Freddie watched Sam chuckle, his stomach doing cart wheels. "I'm just about to win, Carly, no worries," she said, taking a glimpse at Freddie. "My mom texted me earlier in school to meet her at the clinic around five. So, see you guys later?"

Without waiting for any of the other two to reply she grabbed her jacket and stomped out of the apartment, smashing the door shut behind her too hard to be alright. Freddie ran another hand through his hair as Carly came to him and they sat on the couch in sync. She eyed him with narrowed eyes.

"What was that about?" she asked with strange undertone.

Freddie stared into nothing, picturing Sam inside his head, he look she had before she left, just a few seconds ago. She seemed…shocked, incredulous and distracted at the same time. And there was this soft flicker again which he didn't know the meaning of. "I wish I knew."


End file.
